Hamlet Response Journal

Response Journal for Act 1 Scene 1 to Act 1 Scene 4

     At this point, the play seems too dramatic to me. I mean, sure, the wording of Shakespeare is great, but somehow it just doesn't suit my taste. Instead of saying something in a straightforward way, he uses a more convoluted way to imply what he means. But this is a drama, a play, in which the wording is incontrovertibly expressive in an old-fashioned kind of way, however, it just doesn't suit my taste.

     I have felt and experienced what Horatio is feeling for Hamlet, a sense of loyalty towards his best friend.  I speak from first-hand experience, because best friends are hard to come by and you need to relish the relationship you have, to have loyalty towards one another, like Hamlet and Horatio.
     Keeping something secret is a hard thing. Sometimes you feel like bursting, like you need to tell someone something, but it just isn't the right place or the right time. I think this was how Hamlet was feeling as he knew that his father was a ghost.
     When one of my close relatives went to America, to live there, I felt at a lost. I didn't know what to do, whether I would get to see him again, but then I realized that I wanted the best for him, even though the best is hard to give.

     Shakespeare's language is very unique. He twists and turns the English language into a phenomenon. He uses words that creates vivid images in our minds, he creates a quintessential literary work, entwining words here and there to make subtle changes, and that subtle changes in turn makes the whole work amazing. I especially like the part where Hamlet says 'Nay it is; I know not seems.' It uses the consonant 'n' a lot and the feeling you get when saying the line aloud is gratifying, satisfying some part of your brain that needed to be satiated by saying a repeating consonant sound.

    Although I don't understand the language of his works, I get the feeling that he is trying to convey. In the parts where it's near the climax, I get to feel the eagerness of the actors, the pace is increasing, and I in turn get caught up with it.